The mask of Shoki is an amulet made during the time when famine, loss of the silk worms and other disasters hit the region around 1850.
Some villagers put the mask on and ran around, praying for help - and heaven sent help and a good harvest after all.
Now people wearing the mask take part in the festivals of this and other shrines in Takahashi.

- quoteRokusho-Gu 六所宮
The shrine is known as "Rokusho-sama" or the respectful six gods and it now enshrines six Shinto gods.
The proper name is of the shrine is "Unagi-hime Jinja Shrine", but this lady god Unagi or Princess Eel is not included in the six gods.
People of Yufuin have been struggling with water. Our ancestors might have worshiped eel as a spirit of marshes and created this shrine.
Rokushogu use to have a fairly wide precincts and from there, trees were repeatedly cut down for special usages. A historical document records that in late 16th century, when Samurai lord "Otomo Yoshimune" ruled the area, the shrine offered the trees to built great "Yusuhara Hachiman Shrine", the first shrine of the Bungo area in Oita city.
In 1991, Super Typhoon Mireille knocked down all the huge cedars here and you can see the enshrined stumps now.

Ogo-Sha 大杵社 (Oogosha)
Ogo-sha is a subordinate of Unagi-hime Shrine and was established around the same period.
So it may go back to the age of mythological Emperor Keiko.
The great cedar tree of this shrine was designated as a national important cultural asset in 1934. It measures 13.5 m around the base and 35 m high and is more than 1000 years old.
Near the roots is a cavity around 5 m2. In the new year's eve of 1897, fire got into this cavity and it continued to burn for 2 years 2 month and 2 days. People say they saw smokes gashing out from the top part 30 m up in the sky.
Every body thought the tree was killed. However it gained power after this incident.
Maybe the pests were swept out by the fire and smoke.- source : yufuin.or.jp/global

Lake Kinrinko 金鱗湖 Lake Fish Scales
Legend knows that Unagihime made a bet with an Oni demon that he could not build 100 steps up to her seat on the top of Mount Yufudake or make 100 boulder heaps (or throw 100 large boulders or earth in the area in one night ... sources differ).
Anyway then a rooster announced the morning and the job was not finished. The demon had to leave the area. But there was enough earth in the plain to make place for the farmers to grow crops and the lake had become much smaller.

The lake Kinrinko used to be full of unagi ウナギ（鰻）eel, which were the sacred fish of the deity, and even made into the Deity Unagi Hime herself.

Other legends tell this story of Unagi Hime and the Oni namedKesaki Gongen 蹴裂権現（けさきごんげん）
He tore a rift in the mountains so that the water of the huge lake could flow out . . . and thus the plain of Yufuin was created.

A statue of Kesaki Gongen is very small, only about as long as a hand.
It was kept in the shrine, but after the buildings were lost in a typhoon, there is now just a small sanctuary in the woods, where no-one visits any more.
A local villager takes the statue home to offer prayers during the winter time. He also shows it to the school children and tells them the old story.

Names referring to the first legendary emperor Jinmu.
The fourth child of Ugayafukiaezu and Tamayorihime (daughter of the sea kami Watatsumi; see also umi no kami). Jinmu originally married Ahirahime [in Nihongi, called Ahiratsuhime] in Hyuga, thus siring Tagishimimi no mikoto. Later, he conferred with Itsuse no mikoto and his other brothers and left on a campaign to subdue the eastern provinces. Both Kojiki and Nihongi relate the eastern campaign while interspersing martial songs called Kume-uta.

Hosted by Usatsuhiko and Usatsuhime, and guided by the kunitsukami Shinetsuhiko, the army passed through the provinces of Tsukushi, Toyo, Aki, and Kibi, finally arriving at Naniwa (near present-day Osaka). The army failed to land there, however, and changed course and proceeded instead to Kumano. During that period, the campaign was successful at subjugating the various tribes met, but in the fight with Tomi no Nagasunebiko (in Kojiki), Jinmu's brother Itsuse no mikoto was killed, and Inahi no mikoto (in Nihongi, Inai no mikoto) and Mikenu no mikoto (in Nihongi, Mikeirinu no mikoto) were buffeted by storms at sea and either drowned or departed to the "everlasting land" (Tokoyo), finally leaving Emperor Jinmu as the sole leader.

At Kumano, Jinmu's army was beset by noxious vapors issued by rough kami, and the entire band fell unconscious, but they were saved by the local man Takakuraji, who received an oracular dream from Amaterasu and Takemikazuchi. With the sword Futsu no mitama provided by Takemikazuchi, Jinmu defeated the rough kami.

When the army lost its way on the road, either Takamimusuhi (Kojiki) or Amaterasu (Nihongi) appeared to Jinmu in a dream, telling him to follow the numinous Yatakarasu crow that would be sent as a guide. Following the crow, Jinmu and his army, led by Michi no omi no mikoto arrived at Yoshino, where they were met by the kunitsukami Ihika (in Nihongi, called Ihikari), Iwaoshiwaku, and the child of Niemotsu. There, Jinmu orchestrated the surrender or defeat of the brothers Ukashi the Elder and Ukashi the Younger, the brothers Shiki the Elder and Shiki the Younger, the leaders Yasotakeru and Nagasunehiko, and the Tsuchigumo peoples.

Finally, in his role as the child of the heavenly kami (amatsukami), Jinmu consulted with Nigihayahi no mikoto who had rendered service in subduing local kami like Nagasunehiko, and after receiving Nigihayahi's submission, he completed his eastern campaign and built a palace at Kashihara, where he was coronated.

The account in Nihongi also introduces numerous other episodes involving the campaign to subject the indigenous tribes, including the appearance of a golden kite (a bird of prey); and Jinmu's receipt of an oracular dream, as the result of which he makes ritual implements from the clay of Mt. Amanokagu. These implements he offered in worship to Takamimusuhi in performance of an oath (ukei), appointing Michi no omi to the position of chief ceremonialist.

Following his coronation, Jinmu, through the mediation of Ōkume no mikoto, took as his empress Himetataraisukeyorihime, the child of Mishima no Ōmononushi and the daughter of Mishima no Mizokui. With her, he produced Kamununakawamimi no mikoto and other offspring, and at Torimiyama he constructed a facility for the worship of the imperial ancestral kami. According to Kojiki, he lived to be 127, and died at Kashihara and was buried to the north of the mountain Unebiyama. - source : Mori Mizue, Kokugakuin 2005 -

- quote - Yufuin (由布院 as onsen resort, 湯布院 as city)
is a popular hot spring resort, located about ten kilometers inland from Beppu, another, much larger and more developed hot spring resort. Yufuin has a wealth of art museums, cafes and boutiques, and many travelers come to the city just to stroll about town for the day.

Yufuin is located on a flat river basin surrounded by mountains. The most prominent feature of Yufuin's skyline is the twin peaked Mount Yufu (由布岳 Yufudake), which hovers over the town and serves as the backdrop for many scenic views. The area is rural and shortly after leaving the main walking route, travelers will come across the rice paddies and farm houses that make up a considerable part of the town.

The ryokan and hotels of Yufuin are spread out around town, and not clustered along the main street like in many other resort towns. Instead, the main street is lined with cafes, boutiques and small museums, giving Yufuin an atmosphere more like a trendy shopping area than a traditional onsen town. Nonetheless, there is a large number of lodgings with hot spring baths, some of which open their baths to non-staying guests during daytime.

Another natural landmark of Yufuin besides Mount Yufu is Lake Kinrinko (金鱗湖) lit. "Golden Scale Lake".
The water temperature of this lake annually stays same, because of several brooks pouring in and hot spring gushes in the lake.
When the air temperature is lower than water temperature, you can see evaporating fog coming out of surface and the scene turns into a fantastic mood.
In this lake are fish such as tilapia (originated in Africa), crucian carp, carp and other freshwater fish. Legend say, Lake Kinrinko was much bigger in old days, but several landslides that occurred with earthquake made the lake smaller and shallower.
The lake was named by a Confucian scholar Kuso Mori in 1884, who saw the scales of crucian carp shine in gold. It literally means Golden scale Lake.

The small lake is located at the end of the town's main walking route, about a kilometer and a half from the station. Walking paths surround the lake as well as more small shops and cafes, and there is a small shrine located at the lake's southern end. There are also a few public bath houses, one of which, the Shitanyu, can be used by tourists, while the others are for use by local residents only.

The hot springs that abound in the town of Yufuin are divided into three distinct areas.

1. Yufuin Hot Springs (由布院温泉):
These springs are situated near the base of Mt. Yufu. Their plentiful flow of hot water and quiet mountain surroundings have long attracted writers and artists to the area. Currently, these springs are ranked with the second highest water flow in Japan, and their combination of natural environments with forward-thinking urban development have made Yufuin Hot Springs a top health resort destination, drawing visitors from all over Japan.

2．Yunohira Hot Springs (湯平温泉):
It has long been said that these springs are effective in treating gastrointestinal disorders. The nearby stone-paved road, built during the Edo period, suits the atmosphere of the Yunohira Hot Springs, with their history as therapeutic baths.
The Haiku Poet Santoka spent some time here.

3. Tsukahara Hot Springs (塚原温泉):
It is said that this secluded spring located north of Mt. Yufu has been flowing since the Heian period. Tsukahara Hot Spring is recognized as one of the three major medicinal baths of Japan, and its strong acidic pH of 1.4 is reputed to be especially effective against skin diseases. - source : jnto.go.jp/eng/location -

09/01/2014

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Uji Jinja 宇治神社

Uji Imazaikecho, Ise-city, Mie - 三重県伊勢市宇治今在家町１７２

CLICK for more photos !

- quote
Uji Jinja is a guardian shrine for the residents in the local neighborhood of Uji and also famous as the guardian shrine of leg health.
The legend for strong leg health originated because many of the ancient pilgrims to Ise City prayed there for healthy and strong legs for their journeys back home.
The local folklore was further aided after Ise City’s own Mizuki Noguchi 野口みずき became the gold medal marathon winner in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The legend says that visitors can get stronger legs if they touch a special rock within the shrine.- source : www.ise-kanko.jp/english

Jinsei no ashidori ga yuku naru 人生の足取りが良くなる
May the strides of your life become easy.

- quoteUmashiashikabihikoji - Umashi ashikabi hikoji no kami
A kami that appeared in the process of formation of heaven and earth. Acording to Kojiki and an "alternate writing" quoted in the Nihongi, when the land was first formed, it was uncongealed like floating oil, and drifted about like a jellyfish. From within this substance an object appeared and sprouted like a reed, becoming the kami Umashiashikabihikoji.

Kojiki states that this kami was the fourth of the five separate heavenly kami (kotoamatsukami) that were produced alone (hitorigami) and then hid themselves away (i.e., died). The second and third "alternate writings" describing this episode in Nihongi, however, state that Umashiashikabihikoji was the first kami to come into being, while the sixth account describes it as the second kami produced.
This kami was not known as the ancestor of any clans.- source : kokugakuin, Mori Mizue

- quote
Beginning in 2001, Maruyama Hana Festival is the festival of Umezono Migawari Tenmangu Shrine, and has been held in Maruyama-cho.

During this festival, a portable shrine known as an onna mikoshi is carried on the shoulders of women, and is courageously and noisily paraded along Kankodori Aveune from Maruyama-cho to the Hamanomachi Arcade shopping street.
Another highlight during this women only festival is the procession of courtesans that is reminiscent of when Maruyama-cho was a geisha district.- source : bridgemedia.jp/nagasaki

This shrine has been built in 1700 by Yasuda Ji-emon 安田次右衛門 from Maruyama, and since then been the protector shrine of the Maruyama Geisha District.
A legend from 1693 tells about 安田次右衛門, who was attacked by 梅野五郎左衛門 and finally fled into his own estate. Like a miracle, he was not hurt but the statue of Tenjin sama (Sugawara Michizane) showed blood flowing.
This is why the shrine is also called Migawari - personal substitute.

In 1770 the governor of Nagasaki allowed theater groups and leisure attraction shops and even Sumo wrestling in the compound and then the parade of the geishas began too.

The main Tenmangu Festival, Maruyama Hana Matsuri 丸山花祭り, is on the second Sunday in November.

The famous geisha Aihachi of Nagasaki and the BURABURA song
愛八姉さんの「ぶらぶら節」

- quote Aihachi was sold into the life of a geisha as a young girl from an impoverished fishing village, but became a shamisen player of distinction and a woman of refinement, while never forgetting her humble beginnings. Though not wealthy, she gave freely of her earnings to poor children.

She became a minarai (watching apprentice) with the Suekichi okiya (geisha house) of the Maruyama hanamachi (geisha district) in Nagasaki at the age of 10, debuting as ‘Aihachi’ at the age of 17 in the autumn of 1890, she unexpectedly became a meigi (famous geisha) around the age of 20 or 21.

In February 1931, she recorded ten folk songs that were popular during the Edo period, for the Victor record label, including “Burabura-bushi” a typical folk song of Nagasaki, which has since became known as the national folk song of Nagasaki. The film, "Nagasaki burabura-bushi" (The Nagasaki stroll about song), based on a Naoki Prize winning novel by well-known songwriter Rei Nakanishi, loosely recounts her life story.

The Maruyama district has long been known for its fabulous kimonos. A famous saying in Old Japan was:
“I wish I could have a beautiful courtesan of Shimabara [Kyoto] with the dashing spirit of a Yoshiwara [Edo] woman, wearing the gorgeous apparel of Maruyama [Nagasaki], at a sumptuous ageya of Shinmachi [Osaka].”source : blue_ruin_1/

In the shrine compound is a famous rock called
Ebisu ishi 恵比須石 Ebisu Rock / Ebisu Stone

Time has left its marks on the rock but it looks like a smiling God Ebisu to all now.
If you look at the stone closely, your own face will get beautiful and you will become a "smiling beauty" with a smiling kind heart.

They help arrange the seasonal festivals of their shrine and carry the mikoshi palanquin in the festival parade.
They all wear a happi coat of the same pattern. For official situations, they might even come in the formal trouser-skirt, hakama 袴.

quoteUjiko
Generally, a group from the land surrounding the areas dedicated to the belief in and worship of one shrine; or, the constituents of that group. Because that shrine's kami is called the ujigami, the corresponding term ujiko is used.

There is another term for ujiko, sūkeisha, but often it is the case that the two are distinguished by a geographical classification with ujiko referring to the person from that shrine's ujiko district and sūkeisha referring to the person from outside the district. However, there are also occasions when they are used interchangeably. Article ninety-nine of the present Shūkyō hōjin jinja honchō chōki dictates "Following precedent, we call believers who bear the obligation of supporting the shrine, that shrine's ujiko or sūkeisha, and these persons are to be registered in the respective ujiko and sūkeisha lists."

However, that article is for establishing registration lists, and in article fifteen of the Jinja honchō kenshō it states, "The ujiko is, traditionally, a person who resides in the ujiko district, and the other believers are sūkeisha. Ujiko and sūkeisha are the foundation of shrine support, and the parental body supporting its growth." So, rather than the organizational concept of registration lists, it is defining ujiko emphasizing the traditional concept of naming as ujiko all who reside in the ujiko district.

Also in article fourteen it dictates, "The shrine district is a district traditionally determined by each shrine, and shrines must mutually respect ujiko districts." Long ago, the relationship between the shrine and its worship groups and believer groups was a relationship focused on the ujibito (clan member) and the ancestral kami as the ujigami; however, along with that, elements of the chinjugami and the ubusunagami were added and concepts such as ujibito, ubuko (ubusunagami's follower) and ujiko were mixed and came to develop in combination. - more about ubusuna is below.

Even by the middle of the Muromachi period it was written in (Urabe) Kanekuni Hyakushukashō, "Generally, the Gion Shrine officials call an ujiko someone who is born in the area between the Gojō area to the south and the Nijō area in the north, and call a person from the area north of Nijō up to Ōharaguchi a Mitama ujiko," showing that the clear classification of ujiko districts by city areas had been born. Furthermore, in the farm villages at this time, along with the creation of self-governing villages called gōson, shrines came to be managed as pieces of village property. It is also thought that at this time (hand in hand with the development of the miyaza) the concepts of the ujigami and ujiko came to be firmly established.

In the Meiji period, the ujiko tradition was taken very serious in the governments shrine policies, and while the ujiko shirabe system from Meiji four (1871) was soon halted due to its being limited to partial enforcement, soon afterward the ujiko sōdai system was installed alongside the administrational institutions for towns and villages in the countryside. In that way, the foundation of present day shrine operations was established. Due to today's Religious Corporation Law (Shūkyō Hōjinhō), the shrine ujiko system has lost its administrative regulations and has turned into something maintained only by practice and belief.

We can also see the phenomenon that movement of the population; the development of large scale housing areas; the redevelopment of city areas; land reclamation and other types of engineering enterprises; and changes in administrative sectioning, among other things, cause various problems for traditional ujiko districts and the retention of ujiko consciousness.
See sūkeisha , Shrine Parishioner Registration (ujiko shirabe) source : Sano Kazufumi, Kokugakuin, 2007

Ujiko Chizu 氏子地図 the Map of Ujiko
(Ujiko means people under the protection of the local deity), which is owned by the shrine, was made in 1631. It shows 14 villages in Ishikawa County and is called "Kashu Ishikawa-no-kohri Utsushi Ezu 加州石川郡写絵図" (Pictures of Ishikawa County, Kashu Prefecture).
The map shows the locations of feudal warriors' residences, temples and shrines, towns, villages, slopes, and bridges, giving an idea of what the castle town of Kanazawa used to look like.

- quoteUbusunagami
The tutelary kami of one's birthplace. Also known as ubusuna. A variety of orthographical representations for the term ubusuna are found historically, including 本居, 生土, 参土, 宇夫須那, and 産須那. In any case, the element ubu means birth, though opinion is divided regarding the significance of suna.

In some locales, the ubusunagami appears related to the ubugami, a tutelary of infants and pregnant women; in these cases, it is customary to pay respects immediately following childbirth at a small shrine (hokora) to the ubusunasama or ubugamisama located within the residential grounds.

While the conceptual basis for ubusunagami originally differed from those for ujigami and chinjugami, the three are frequently confused. Medieval warrior clans strengthened their presence on shōen (manors) by acting as protectors of local villages, and in the process, they adopted as clan tutelaries kami with strong local territorial affiliations, resulting in an amalgamation of the local ubusunagami and clan ujigami. From this period one thus finds historical documents that read both 産神(ubugami) and 氏神(ujigami) as ubusuna.

In the early modern period, the traditional relationship between a clan tutelary (ujigami) and its protégés (ujiko) was mirrored by the custom of using the term ubuko 産子 to refer to the followers of an ubugami.

Finally, based on the etymology of the terms ubusunagami (or ubugami) and ubuko, examples are frequently seen in which the traditional first post-natal shrine visit (hatsumiyamōde) and other ordinary worship at an ujigami shrine are alternately referred to as ubusunamairi (paying worship at the ubusuna).source : Iwai Hiroshi, Kokugakuin

yama no kami 山の神 Deity of the Mountain (a female deity)
is also venerated as o-san no kami お産の神 the deity of birth.
For a difficult delivery, she comes to welcome the dead to the mountain.
Since she dislikes Sanbi, a family where a birth happened is not allowed to enter the mountain for one week.

- quote"Clan kami," in ancient Japanese society, an ancestral kami or other tutelary worshiped by individuals sharing the same clan (uji) name. As a result of historical changes in the composition of groups worshiping such kami, however, ujigami today are most frequently identified with local chthonic tutelaries (including both chinjugami and ubusunagami).

As medieval warrior clans strengthened their presence on the local manors known as shōen, they gradually adopted local indigenous tutelaries as their own ujigami, and the people worshiping those ujigami likewise evolved from consanguineous familial organizations to groups linked by the mere sharing of residence in the same geographical area. This process thus resulted in the merging of clan kami (ujigami) and local geographical tutelaries (ubusunagami).

Around the same time, shrines to chinjugami-originally enshrined as the tutelaries of specific buildings or pieces of land-came to be formally dedicated (kanjō) within noble-owned manors as well, leading to a merging of ujigami and chinjugami. Today, ujigami cults can be broadly classified into three types.
The first is the "village ujigami"; in this type, each local resident is considered a "clan member" (ujiko) and participates in worshiping the kami.
The second is called variously yashiki-ujigami or ie-ujigami, a type of kami enshrined in a small shrine (hokora) within the grounds of individual family dwellings.
The final type is referred to as an ikke-ujigami or maki-ujigami, and occupies an intermediate position between the other two types, since it is worshiped by all members of an extended family (ikke) or local neighborhood grouping (maki).source : Iwai Hiroshi, Kokugakuin 2005